Etymologically
Log in

protocollum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 15:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proː.tɔˈkɔl.lũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pro.toˈkɔl.lum][1]

Forms

prōtocollum n (genitive prōtocollī); second declension[1] Medieval spellings include prothocollum, protogollum and protagollum.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Byzantine Greek πρωτόκολλον (prōtókollon, “first sheet glued onto a manuscript”),[1][2][4] from Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) and κόλλα (kólla, “glue”).[1][5] The TLL notes that it was not continued by popular speech but taken into the learned vocabulary of all the Romance languages, as Italian protocollo, French protocole and Spanish protocolo.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Justinian's Novels, after 534 AD,[2] where notaries are told to leave the protocolla in their documents: the first page of a public deed.[6]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin it named the first sheet of a papyrus roll, a charter written on papyrus, a public notary's register and a chancery roll.[4] Du Cange describes it as a book glued together into which public acts were entered.[7] In British sources it is the official copy of a deed kept by a notary, from which further copies could be made and checked, and the book holding such copies.[3] Polish sources use it for a notary's record entered in the official books, and once for a codicil to a will.[8] Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for the record of a transaction.[9]

English took the word through French in the mid-15th century, first as prothogol “prologue”.[5]

Timeline

  • after 534 AD – Justinian's Novels use it for the first page of a public deed.[6][2]
  • 945 – Niermeyer's first medieval record of the word.[2]
  • 1289 – A Gascon roll orders a deed to be copied from a notary's protocollum or register.[3]
  • 1338 – A Polish source mentions notarial protocolla that were burnt.[8]
  • mid-15th century – Borrowed into English, through French, as prothogol.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) The first sheet of a papyrus roll or the first page of a public deed.[1][6][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A charter written on papyrus.[4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A notary's protocol: the official copy of a deed kept by a notary, or the register of such copies.[4][3][8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A chancery roll.[4]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The record of a transaction.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson